Hot water is the leading cause of both scalds and hospital admissions for burns. This hot water includes tap water in sinks, bathtubs and showers. Each year approximately 3,800 injuries and 34 deaths occur in the home due to scalding from excessively hot tap water. The majority of these injuries involve the elderly and children under the age of five. It takes approximately 5 minutes to produce a partial-thickness burn when exposed to water having a temperature of 49° C. but it takes less than 3 seconds when the water temperature is at 63° C. Since infants, young children and the elderly may not be able to respond quickly to a situation involving contact with hot water, maintaining water temperature below a constant safe water temperature is essential for preventing scalds from tap water.
Serious burns and scalds require long and painful treatment. These injuries can result in permanent scarring, physical and emotional disability, and years of skin grafting operations. The very young and elderly are most at risk because they tend to have a slower reaction time and/or thinner skin.
The national building code currently allows a maximum water tank temperature of 60° C. The organization Safe Kids Canada has worked with the Canadian advisory committee on plumbing to develop a proposed amendment to the national building code and the national plumbing code. The proposal states a performance expectation limiting the temperature of hot water at plumbing fixtures to a maximum of 49° C.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that can limit the temperature of water that is provided to a water appliance (i.e. water fixture). It would be beneficial if the system could provide such control to a network of water appliances with the capability of being retrofitted to existing plumbing systems as well as being integrated into new plumbing systems. In addition, it would be beneficial for the system to allow many users to use the water appliance according to their own personal preferences and provide a simple means for the user to use the water appliance according to their preferences. This is especially advantageous for the elderly who may have trouble operating a water appliance in the conventional manual fashion. This is also advantageous for elderly people who have memory or other cognitive problems which limits their ability to use the water appliance in a safe and effective manner. An indication of water condition is also beneficial since the user would then not have to test water using his/her bare skin which is an often-used method that can lead to injury.